Two Minutes to Midnight S5
by Bad Day at Black Rock
Summary: Castiel reappears just in time to go after the last two horsemen, while Bobby negotiates help elsewhere.  Tension is high and time is short as the apocalypse closes in.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These fics are based on real episodes from Supernatural. The characters and plots belong to the creator and writers for the show. If you want background on the OCs you can read the previous episodes.

Two Minutes to Midnight

There were several sounds that Dean would swear were tailor-made exclusively for his pleasure. The purr of the Impala's engine first thing in the morning, or the crisp pop of a bottle of beer after a long day. The soft moan she would make when he kissed Kayla's neck, or the breathless _'yes'_ when she agreed to marry him. The kind of sounds that could bring a smile to his face despite the world falling apart around him.

"Good heartbeat." The doctor commented. "Strong."

This made the list. The soft, rhythmic beating of his son's heart seemed to blaze a path straight to his soul. He had been arrogant in the claim that he was perfect, that there wouldn't be any complications, but hearing it from the doctor had all but overwhelmed him with relief.

The doctor closed the window and the heartbeat stopped, pulling Dean out of his surreal train of thought. "You say you have no idea as to the time of conception?"

"I don't," she answered. "We travel, time flies right by you know?"

He nodded. "Well I've put in all the measurements. You can see on the screen that the details are quite apparent as far as development." He began motioning on the screen as he explained. "Facial features, nose, mouth, eyes, here's the feet down here, and one of the hands."

"Look baby he's waving at you."

Dean smirked but it tugged at his heart. He was having trouble pretending to be calm about all this, like he wasn't excited.

"I can't be exact without a date from you but judging from the size and clarity of development, I'd say you're sitting right around fifteen weeks."

"Fifteen weeks?" She asked incredulously. "Are you sure?"

"Again, we can't be exact but it's fairly accurate."

Dean looked at her exposed stomach. "Almost four months, where the heck are you hiding that thing?"

The doctor chuckled. "Oh the weight gain won't begin for about six weeks or so."

"Oh, good." Kayla sighed.

"Don't worry." He reassured her. "Just stay in shape, you can continue working out during the pregnancy and that weight will come right back off."

"Right, right." She rolled her eyes.

He laughed quietly to himself but didn't say anything. This whole thing had him chomping at the bit to see what happens next, he couldn't even picture a baby bump on her. His cell phone rang and he glanced at it. "It's Sam. Be right back."

She smiled in response as he headed into the hallway.

"So what are you hoping for?" The doctor turned off the machine.

"Oh, he'll be a boy." She stated.

He nodded. "Next ultrasound, we'll see."

Dean came back in with that look on his face; time to work a job.


	2. Chapter 2

"You know, if it weren't for the ultrasound pictures I wouldn't believe it." Dean gently ran his hand across her tank top, feeling nothing but the flat, smooth surface of her abdomen. It had been almost a month since her appointment and she was eighteen weeks along. She had insisted there was a bulge, a sign of holding water but he'd never seen it.

"Any time now." She assured him. "I'll be busting at the seams."

He eyed her, unconvinced. "I doubt it." His lips grazed against hers with a smirk. "But I can't wait."

Sam cleared his throat from the doorway and Dean turned around.

"Need in the fridge?"

His brother's playful smile didn't phase his straight expression. "Can we talk?"

Dean looked at Kayla and she pushed off Bobby's aged kitchen counter. "I'll be upstairs."

As she started out the door Sam caught her by the wrist. "You can stay."

"That bad huh?" She offered a nervous smile. "Should I get him a beer first?"

He looked between them and nodded thoughtfully. "Probably."

"Wow." She wasn't going to argue with that; she went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he popped the top off. "What's wrong?" Lucifer was closing in, the angels had Adam and Cas had disappeared altogether. What more could he tell him?

"You remember when Bobby was possessed, and attacked you?"

"Yeah, kind of a hard one to forget."

"They told him to kill you, but he was so focused, so determined not to, that he gained control over the demon. Dad did it too, with Azazel."

He thought for a moment. "Uh huh…" He didn't like where this was going already and he took a swig of beer.

"What if I could do that?"

"Do what?"

"Take control, of Lucifer."

Dean slammed the bottle down on the counter. "Are you insane?"

"Dean just listen."

"Are you actually suggesting that you say yes?"

Kayla laughed, more in disbelief than anything. "I'm sorry." She cleared her throat. "You should have gotten him wasted first, how did you think this conversation would go?"

"Well I didn't just decide to say yes and take off without telling anyone did I?" He took the cheap shot at Dean in an attempt to lower their guard. "I _thought_ you'd listen like rational adults first."

Dean bit back the outrage with everything he had. "Fine. I'm listening."

"I think this could work. If I get enough strength, and I let Lucifer in, I can get him back into his cage without a fight."

He remained calm, for now, despite his brother's obvious complete lack of common sense. He was gathering his 'rational' response in his head. "Get enough strength how?"

Sam hesitated, but he knew there was nowhere he could take this but straightforward. He had to be honest with the whole plan or it would blow up in his face. "With demon blood."

"Alright." He breathed. "Let me make sure I understand 'the plan'. Get yourself juiced up on demon blood to get power, say yes to Lucifer, and then just jump into the pit."

"Pretty much." He was surprised how well he was taking it.

"Are you insane?" He yelled at him, louder this time. "You know what the demon blood does to you, and there's no guarantee that you can get control over Lucifer! Oh, and let's not forget that jumping into the pit, is suicide!" Nothing irrational about that, right? Just the damned truth.

"What are you idiots yelling about now?" Bobby called from the other room.

"Did you know about this?" Dean went to the doorway.

"Know about what?"

"Sam's ingenious plan to say yes to the devil."

Bobby grimaced; wrong place at the wrong time. He nodded and waited for the angry response.

"Well thanks for the heads up!" He turned to Sam. "You're not doing this."

"That's the consensus."

"Good, end of discussion." His phone rang and he looked at it, then pointed at Sam. "This isn't over."

"You just said end of discussion."

"Shut up." He raised the phone to his ear. "Yeah. Cas?" At least there was some good news.

"Sam stepped forward, he was concerned but even more eager to change the subject. "Is he okay?"

"We thought you were dead man, where are you?" He looked to Kayla and put him in speaker.

"A hospital."

Dean sighed when he didn't offer anything more. "Well are you okay?"

"No."

He threw his hand up and pushed the phone to Kayla before he blew up.

"Cas, sweetheart, why are you in a hospital?"

"I woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised, they thought I was brain dead. Apparently after Van Nuys I appeared bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix."

"I bet you're quite the topic of conversation right now then, you might want to leave before they start asking questions."

"Listen man," Dean started. "You're timing couldn't be better. We found a way to pop Lucifer's box. I'll tell you about it when get here, we're going after Pestilence right now so zap over to Bobby's."

"I can't 'zap' anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems my batteries are drained."

"What, like you're out of angel mojo?"

He paused a moment. "I'm saying that I'm thirsty, and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it. I'm just, incredibly…"

"You're human." Kayla exclaimed. Imagine that.

"Wow." Dean agreed. "Sorry."

"My point is, I can't go anywhere without money for an airplane ride, and food. More pain medication ideally." He added.

"Alright well no worries." He nodded to Kayla. "I'm sending Kayla to get you. She'll explain everything along the way."

Cas gave them his location and she grabbed her bag. She had already been packed to go after Pestilence, and Dean was more than ecstatic to change her point of destination.

"Hey," Dean reminded her. "No more offerings of human experience right?" He motioned to her hand. "Ring means I called dibs, exclusively."

She laughed lightly and hugged him. "Right, no problem. Be careful with the horseman. I'd be more worried, but you two have seemed to make light work of them so far."

"We got this." He kissed her and tucked a credit card into her pocket, knowing full well she wouldn't use the dishonest source of funds. "Go get our fallen angel."


	3. Chapter 3

The hospital was crowded and she circled the lot twice before realizing that Cas was sitting on a bench near the front doors. He held a small folder in his lap, most likely his discharge papers. To say the least, he looked like hell.

She pulled up and rolled the window down. "Cas."

His head tilted like a dog hearing a piercing sound. After a breath he walked over slowly and got into the passenger seat. "Thank you. The noise out here is making my heart beat inside my skull."

"Sounds like a migraine." She pulled the car out of the lot. "Did they give you a prescription?"

"Several." He handed her the papers.

"Alright well let's get to the pharmacy real quick and…"

"No." He demanded, then cringed against his headache and corrected his tone. "Food first, please. I tried to eat in the cafeteria, apparently you're supposed to pay for it. Not that it mattered, my vessel seemed to reject it anyway. I think I almost vomited."

"Okay." She smiled sympathetically; poor guy had to suffer down here with the humans. "Well your vessel does like cheeseburgers, we know that one. We'll go through the drive-through before hitting Walgreens. We don't have a whole lot of time," she checked the clock. "Our flight leaves in two hours, if you want to try to make it back in time to help."

He nodded and closed his eyes. "What happened to Adam?"

"Michael took him, we haven't heard anything."

"And Lucifer's cage? They plan to open it and put him back in?"

"Yeah, the key is the rings of the four horsemen. Easy enough right?"

He forced a sarcastic laugh. "No problem."

Her heart went out to him as the pain laced through his words. "You can save your questions you know, for the flight, after the pain medication has kicked in."

But this wasn't in his nature. Recovery time wasn't something he was accustomed to. "And the baby? What did the doctor say?"

"He's fine." She smiled softly. "Eighteen weeks now."

His hand squeezed into a tight ball and he furrowed his brow. "Good." He was fighting hard against the pain; if humans had done it all this time, he sure as hell could for a while at least.

"You know, I have some migraine pills left over." She reached over and dug through her purse. "From Sam." Once she found the bottle, she popped the lid off and held it out. "Open your hand."

His eyes opened again and he held his hand out. She only gave him one; a human dose. "Will that be enough?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "If you're completely…human, it will be. If it doesn't work you can take more."

He swallowed the pill and closed his eyes again. "It's not working."

"It'll take a minute impatient one." She shook her head. "I'm sorry Cas, this must be miserable for you."

"It'll be fine. Once the battle is over, everything will be set back right."

He was a lot more optimistic than everyone else for a change. Maybe he finally understood what it was like to be desperate.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam rubbed his eyes and glanced over at Dean, who was falling asleep after almost two hours of staring at the surveillance cameras. "Dean."

He jumped and looked at him, pretending to be completely awake and alert. "What?" The screens didn't look any different than before. Quiet halls, sometimes an old person would walk by.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"Well, he's Pestilence, so…he'd look sick." He stated matter-of-factly, he could do this in his sleep.

Sam gave him a blank look. "It's a nursing home. Everyone looks sick."

Dean shrugged and rested his head in his hand. He couldn't offer anything more.

"Hey um," he paused. "Congratulations." He noted quietly. "I didn't tell you before. If we live through this we should go get some drinks, celebrate."

"Um, yeah." He hid the surprised smile. "Sounds good."

Sam could feel the awkward silence creeping up and he smirked. "You already lived the manual on how _not _to raise your kids, right?"

He chuckled quietly. "I guess we both did."

"You can't do any worse than that." He glanced at the screens. "Check it out."

Dean leaned in and watched on one of the monitors as a man left a patient's room. He was old, of course that wasn't unusual around here. But every camera that caught him malfunctioned, leaving a line of static across the screen. "Now we're talking."

They watched him go into another patient's room and grabbed their guns. As they started through the halls everything was quiet, but they kept their guard up for the first thing that would try to attack them. There was no telling who the humans were.

It wasn't until the east wing that it hit them. A sudden wave of nausea, coupled with a congested cough and a balance-altering dizzy spell. As they continued around the corner it was hard to walk straight, not that it made too much of a difference with their blurred eyesight. They stepped over the motionless bodies of two of the staff on the ground as each movement became more difficult than the last.

Sam coughed blood into his hand. "Must be getting close."

"Yeah you think?" Dean coughed roughly. He continued towards the door, his body in a cold sweat and his head pounded with brutal force but he sure as hell wasn't going to stop, not now. He used the wall to drag himself to the door.

Sam struggled to raise his knife and the door opened.

A nurse looked calmly at them, which ruled out the idea that she was human. "The doctor will see you now." She stepped aside to show them the man sitting beside a now dead patient. Pestilence.

"Sam, Dean, please come in."

They collapsed in the hall, unable to force themselves another step as the illness ravaged their bodies. The demon nurse dragged them into the room.

"Hmm." The horseman shook his head. "You boys do not look good." He stood and walked around them, satisfied with their obvious state of suffering. "Might be the scarlet fever, or the meningitis. Oh, or the syphilis." He shook his head with scolding knowledge. "That's not fun." With a grim smile he lifted Sam's head and leaned down towards him. "However you're feeling right now, is going to get so very, very much worse. Questions?"

Dean coughed and pain shot through his ribs as blood spattered the floor in front of him. He was thankful Kayla hadn't fought him on being on the back burner for this one.

"Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think?" He let Sam go and crossed the room to apply some hand sanitizer. Like they were the ones with issues. "For being filthy, chaotic, but really that just describes people that get sick. Disease itself is very pure, and simple minded. Bacteria have one purpose: divide and conquer."

Dean reached for Sam's knife but cried out as Pestilence stepped on his hand. The dude weighed like three hundred pounds, or maybe that was the sickness talking.

"That's why in the end, it always wins." He moved the knife away and released his foot from his hand. "So, you gotta wonder why God pours all his love into something so _messy_." He yelled. "And weak!" Everyone was such a big fan of humans. He composed himself. "It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now, on a scale of one to ten, how's your pain?"

The door swung open and Castiel stood in the frame, his face set in fierce determination.

"Cas." Dean muttered.

Pestilence tensed. "How'd you get here?"

"I took a bus." Which was actually true, he'd sent Kayla back to Bobby's after she bought him the ticket. He looked at the brothers on the floor. "Don't worry I…" but his righteous, warrior attitude was dimmed when he hit his knees and fell forward, coughing blood onto the floor.

This pleased the horseman to no end. He leaned forward and looked at Cas with an endearing smile, like a mother to a child. "Well look at that. An occupied vessel but, powerless. It's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?"

Cas took a steady breath and grit against the pain. He jumped to his feet, pinned his hand to the table and cut off his pinky and ring fingers. The horseman cried out in pain as blood sprayed from the wound. "Maybe just a speck."

The demon attacked him but he still held the knife and he twisted it into her gut as she fell on him. His powers may have drained but he would still fight this damn thing.

The sickness gone from his body, Dean got up and grabbed the ring.

"It doesn't matter." Pestilence held pressure on his hand. "It's too late." He disappeared from the room.

"Cas." Dean pat him on the shoulder. "Nice timing man, as usual." He pulled out his phone.

He nodded, letting some of his appearance slip. He still didn't feel all that great.

The phone began to ring as he held it to his ear. "You have to have some of your power left, to fight against Pestilence's diseases."

He thought was comforting, but he wasn't convinced it was true. "I think the amount of pain medicine had a lot to do with it."

"Well there's that." He spoke into the phone. "Kayla, hey. We're okay. Tell Bobby we got the ring, we're on our way."


	5. Chapter 5

The boys got back but they were less than thrilled with the victory. They got the ring, but they had no idea what Pestilence had planned. There had to be something they overlooked, some clue as to what he could have done. As Bobby and Kayla hadn't been hunting, they didn't have any leads on what he meant either.

"We're just a little freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere." Dean mentioned quietly. "So please tell us you have actual good news."

Bobby looked between them. "Chicago is about to be wiped off the map. The storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters, and three million people are going to die."

They were quiet a moment. "Huh." It was all Dean could muster up. Nothing quite surprised him anymore.

"I don't understand your definition of good news." Cas told him.

"Well," Bobby began. "Death, the horseman, he's gonna be there, and if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm and get his ring back…"

Dean straightened up. "Yeah, you make it sound so easy."

"Hell I'm just trying to put a spin on it."

"How'd you put all this together anyways?"

He hesitated again, this time they saw the guilt he'd been trying to hide. "I had…help."

Dean glanced to Kayla and she held up her hands. "Can't claim that one, I had just walked in when you called."

The clanking of glass sounded from behind them and they turned around. Crowley was at the counter, pouring himself a drink. "Come on Bobby, don't be so modest. I barely helped at all." He walked into the room. "Hello, pleasure, etcetera. Dean and Kayla, heard the news, congratulations."

"Yeah." Dean eyed him.

Crowley smelled the drink and found it distasteful, he returned the glass to the counter before leaning against the doorframe and looking at Bobby. "Go ahead, tell them. There's no shame in it."

All eyes immediately went to Bobby.

"Bobby, tell us _what?_" Sam asked menacingly; nothing good could come of a conversation with a crossroads demon.

He sighed quietly. "The world's gonna end, seemed stupid to get all precious over one little…soul."

"You sold your soul?" Dean demanded.

Kayla was just as shocked. "When did this happen?"

"You hadn't gotten home yet darling." Crowley told her. "Besides, it was only a pawn. I fully intend to give it back."

"Then give it back!" Dean snapped at him.

He remained calm despite Dean's temper. "I will."

"Now!"

Sam cut in. "Did you kiss him?"

"Sam."

"Just wondering."

Bobby didn't look any happier when the eyes all turned back to him. He shook his head enthusiastically. "No!"

Crowley cleared his throat to get their attention and held up his phone; sure enough there was a photo of Crowley and Bobby locking lips.

"Why'd you take a picture?" Bobby growled.

"Why'd you use tongue?"

Kayla smirked. "Can you send that to my phone? That is so a blackmail picture."

"Already done sweetheart."

"Alright you know what, I'm sick of this." Dean approached Crowley. "Give him his soul back, _now._"

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"I won't, alright? It's insurance." He finally raised his voice to match Dean's. These boys were more hardheaded than most.

"What are you talking about?"

"You kill demons. Gigantor over there," he motioned to Sam. "Has a temper issue about it. But you won't kill me, as long as I have that soul in the deposit box."

"You son of a bitch." Bobby glared at him; he wished he could get out of the damned chair and punch him in the face.

"I'll return it. After all of this is said and done, and I can walk safely away. Do we understand each other?" He yelled.

They could only guess what words were muttered under his breath as he shoved out the door. Sam turned to Kayla.

"Anyone? Bueller? Right, I got him." She stood and walked past Crowley.

"Say, what are you going to name the little bugger anyway? I'm partial to Crowley myself."

"Bite me."

"Crossroads demon, I kiss."

She made a distasteful sound of protest but didn't grace him with a comeback as she followed Dean's path. He was leaned over the Impala with his head down and his hands tightened into fists. "Hey."

"Can you give me like five minutes? I really want to be pissed off about this new level of stupidity."

"You can be mad." She laughed. "I won't stop you."

"Yes you will." He turned to face her and sat against the hood. "Not intentionally, but you will."

Kayla mustered up a serious expression. "No, really. I agree with you, it's ridiculous. Bargaining with demons, selling his soul…it's unheard of. Oh, wait…"

"Funny."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying, you're not one to talk."

"I guess." He grumbled. With a quiet sigh he nodded to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, no big deal yet."

"Yeah, yet." As she came towards him his hand went to her stomach first; something he'd subconsciously done every time she came near him since he'd found out. It was still hard to believe that his son was hiding out in there, waiting for his chance to cause trouble. The idea still made him smile.

They turned to the sound of the door opening and Sam emerged from the house with that look on his face again.

"Ah man." Dean groaned. "We're gonna have a talk aren't we?"

He chuckled quietly to appease him.

"You good on this one?" Kayla asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I got this one."

She nodded and kissed Dean quickly before going back inside.


	6. Chapter 6

Crowley continued on his path down the information highway. Niveus Pharmaceuticals had advertised the country-wide distribution of its new vaccine for swine flu. The vaccine was going out on Wednesday, and according to Crowley, it was chalk full of Croatoan virus. The outbreak would be monumental. If they succeeded in the shipment, there would be no stopping the devastation. They had to pack everything, and they had to pack fast.

"What's your problem?" Bobby asked Cas as they prepared the supplies to go stop the delivery trucks. He'd been moping around like a dateless teenage girl since he'd gotten back.

He stared absently at the van. "This is what they call the eleventh hour, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Well it's the eleventh hour, and I am useless." He raised the small rifle in his hand. "All I have is this, what am I even supposed to do with it?"

"Point it and shoot."

He shook his head. "What I used to be…"

"You're really going to bitch, to _me?_" Bobby asked incredulously.

"Boys, don't be so dramatic." Kayla tossed a box into the van.

"Tell that to your de-winged princess over here." Bobby threw a bag at him. "Stop pining for the varsity years and load the damn truck." He went to check on Dean and Sam.

"You're not useless Cas, you got the ring from Pestilence, and wasted the demon. You're still good at this."

"But without my powers…"

"If you're trying to make me feel bad for you, so that I'll make out with you again, it won't work." She smirked. "I'm spoken for now you know."

He simply nodded, the lost expression on his face didn't fade.

"Becoming human didn't help that sense of humor did it?" She pulled the door shut. "Buck up, come on." They joined the group.

"Good luck with stopping the whole zombie apocalypse." Dean told Sam.

"Yeah, good luck killing death."

"Yeah."

"You remember when we used to just, hunt wendigos, how simple things were?"

"Not really." Those days were long gone. He shouldn't even hope for that anymore, they were too far into all this.

"Question." Kayla raised her hand.

"No." Dean replied calmly.

"It's not a yes or no question, which you would know if you had listened to it first…rude."

He sighed and motioned a hand towards her. "Go ahead."

"Which caravan do I get to jump in?"

Dean and Sam exchanged a look and he wished they could communicate psychically. She wasn't going to allow for another bench warming position.

"Well, Death or demons." Sam pointed out.

Dean nodded. "Right, you're going with them." If anything there were three of them, they could duct tape her to the seat. "But you don't get out of the van."

She looked to Sam, then back at Dean. "Fine."

"Sam." Dean warned.

He shrugged. "Not a problem."

"Excellent." Crowley urged with feigned interest. "We should get going. Bobby, you just gonna sit there?"

"No, I'm gonna river dance." He growled.

"Well I suppose, if you want to impress the ladies." He seemed to expect the looks he got from them. "Bobby Bobby Bobby. You really wasted that crossroads deal. You get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding one tiny sub-A clause on your behalf." They all still stared in disbelief, wondering if they were all thinking the same thing. "What can I say? I'm an altruist." He looked back at Bobby and repeated the question. "Just gonna sit there?"

Bobby hesitated, but the anticipation was killing him. He tested the waters first and applied pressure to his foot. The metal of the foothold moved slightly underneath him and he looked up in shock as he felt the pressure of the movement go up through his calf. His mind told his leg to move again and it did; he put his feet on the ground and slowly pushed to a standing position. "Son of a bitch." He could actually walk.

"Yes, I know. Completely worth your soul. I'm a hell of a guy."

"Thanks." He didn't know what else to say. He was too surprised to think.

"Can we go?"

Shortly after piling into the van, Sam disclosed his latest idea of ending the apocalypse to Castiel. He waited for the backlash, it would probably be similar to the thrashing Dean got for trying to say yes.

Cas pondered it for a moment. "Say yes to Lucifer, then jump in the hole. It's an interesting plan."

"That's a word for it." Bobby grumbled; these boys were all about the self-sacrifice. Though now, he supposed he couldn't talk.

Sam had expected this. "So, go ahead and tell me it's the worst plan you've ever heard."

"Of course, I am happy to say that if that's what you want to hear. But it's not what I think." Cas told him.

They looked at him. "Really?" Sam was a little more than surprised; he was the only one not to completely shoot it down right off the bat.

"You and Dean have a habit of exceeding my expectations. He resisted Michael, maybe you could resist Lucifer. But there are things that you would need to know."

Kayla moved up closer to them. "Are we moving this plan into action at this point?"

"No," Sam said quickly. "We're just, discussing options. No need to text Dean."

"I wasn't going to," she replied shortly. "I was just checking."

He grimaced. "What do I need to know?"

"Well, Michael has found another vessel. It's your brother Adam, you must have considered it." 

"We tried not to."

"Sam, if you say yes to Lucifer, and then fail, this fight _will _happen. The collateral will be immense." He let him think about that. "There's also the demon blood."

"Yeah, I figured I'd have to drink enough to fight him off."

"Not fight, to take in Lucifer would be more than you've ever drunk."

"Why?"

"It strengthens the vessel, keeps it from exploding."

"But, the guy that he's in now…"

"He's drinking gallons."

Bobby had listened long enough. "And how is that not the worst plan you've ever heard?"

Sam glanced back to Kayla. "Come on."

"What?"

"The first time I talked about this you laughed in my face. So let's hear everything you have to say."

"It's stupid and dangerous." She shot at him. "Just like everything else you guys do."

"It's better than Dean saying yes."

"Dean's not saying yes either way."

"Someone has to do something. How else are we going to get Lucifer into his cage?"

"Easy." Kayla said. "We'll just…you know, ask him nicely."

Cas shook his head in serious concern. "That's not going to work."

She rolled her eyes. "Well no shit Cas, it's sarcasm. Look, I realize we're running low on chances here. I respect this idea, I really do. God knows you've got a big brass pair for even suggesting it. But if you say yes, whether you fail or succeed, we lose you. For God knows how long."

A despaired silence fell between them. To Sam the decision was simple; if you had to sacrifice yourself to save the world, most people would, but it was a decision the survivors would be left to deal with.

"Well. You sure know how to quiet a van don't you?" Bobby asked. "Try to be a little more depressing next time."


	7. Chapter 7

They pulled up to the Niveus distribution center early the following morning. It should have been right on time. Bobby looked through the binoculars and watched the warehouse employees moving boxes into the line of trucks at the docking bay. "Yep, they're loading boxes of croatoan in the trucks. Okay, first truck don't leave for an hour. We get in, we plant the C-4 every twenty five feet, then we pull the fire alarm…"

"Um, that truck is leaving." Cas pointed out.

"Balls!" Bobby groaned. "Okay, new plan."

Sam took over. "Cas, stop that truck. Kayla and Bobby, grab a gun and follow me."

Cas looked to Kayla, a little confused. "But you told Dean you wouldn't leave the van."

She exchanged a look with Sam and smiled. "I knew he wouldn't make me sit out."

He jumped out and opened the back door. "Go."

Rather than argue, Castiel took his gun and ran towards the exiting truck. While they went for the doors a commotion surged through the employees and they began to shut the bays. So far so good; at least the transportation had stopped.

Sam reached the door first and could hear the pleading cries of innocent workers, ones that hadn't been possessed by demons. "Get back!" He yelled at them, then shot through the lock and pushed the door open. "Get out, go!" The group fled and they went into the warehouse. Silence would have been better than the unsettling moans of pain from an unseen man, mixed in with the sounds of tearing flesh. When they found them there were seven standing there, each of them infected with Croatoan virus.

Without hesitation, and really without effort, the three of them opened fire and took out every one of them before they'd made it half way to them. The virus made them savage and unorganized; they made no attempt to hide, only to attack. After the shots stopped they heard more innocent cries from the back of the warehouse.

"There's still people here."

"Sam no." Bobby warned him. Who knew how many demons were waiting.

He handed Kayla the knife. "Wait here. Bobby, come on."

She grimaced but followed the order; it wouldn't kill her to be a little more careful. As they disappeared into the warehouse she heard footsteps behind her and turned to stab a demon with the blade. "Oh yeah, this is _way_ more safe!"She called out.

Through the sounds of gunshots and struggle, Sam brought back small groups of civilians and Kayla made sure they got out without confrontation.

"Last ones." He told her as he ran up with Bobby.

"Come on." She motioned them to the door and held it open, her gun aimed outside to cover them as they ran to the parking lot.

"Sam!"

He was suddenly knocked down by one of the infected and his gun flew from his hands. Bobby aimed and shot but only heard the uneventful click of an unloaded gun. Cas stepped up and shot the man through the head, and looked to the gun admirably.

"Huh. Actually these things can be useful."

"Nice save Cas." Kayla punched him lightly on the arm. "Down and dirty with the rest of us." He looked proud of himself.

"Can we commit our act of domestic terrorism already?" Bobby asked. "Let's go."

Kayla extended a hand and Sam pulled up from the ground. "You did good too."

He laughed. "Yeah thanks."

"Don't tell Dean I got out of the van."

"I won't tell if you won't."


	8. Chapter 8

The first building Crowley took him to was a complete bust. Death wasn't there, and there were no traces of where he'd gone. They had less than twenty minutes until the city was toast and the man of the hour had disappeared.

They drove into town to take a look and the storm still raged around them as people went about their lives. They had no idea what was about to happen.

"So what? Do I call in a bomb threat? A thousand bomb threats? How do I get three million people out of Chicago in ten minutes?" He turned to Crowley and he was gone from the seat. "Right." Dean looked out his window and saw him across the street, pointing into a small pizza place.

"I can't hear you." Idiot.

"I said, I found him." He was back in the car. "Death, he's in there."

Dean looked to the small restaurant and got out of the car. "Are you coming or…" he looked back inside and the car was gone.

"Ditched by a demon, imagine that."

He tried not to groan out loud as he saw Dominic standing beside the Impala; he wore a casual black suit and was adjusting the buttons on the sleeve. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Thought you could use some back up, apparently I was right."

"She called you." He pushed the door shut.

"No, she sent me a text. She was just concerned about the 'help' you would get from Crowley."

"Wonderful." He grumbled; though in actuality he wasn't that pissed to see him. Facing the Horseman of Death on his own was probably one of the dumbest things he could claim in a long time.

"Look at it this way, if things go bad, I can get you out."

"Unless death fries you up too."

He shrugged. "Then we're both screwed aren't we?"

Dean eyed him but decided it wasn't worth the battle; there wasn't enough time. They headed across the street. "What's with the suit?"

"I had a date. Let's get this over with huh? It's gonna be a good night for me."

"Isn't that sweet."

He just smirked and opened the door of the restaurant. Inside, there were several patrons now laying dead, face down on their tables. On the far side of the room, a man in a suit sat with his back to them, calmly eating his meal. Hello Death. Dean tightened his grip on the scythe but it suddenly became hot in his hand. He looked down to see the handle burning red and he dropped it to the ground.

"Thanks for returning that." The weapon appeared next to him at the table. "Join me gentlemen, the pizza's delicious."

He looked to Dominic, who looked just as confused and nervous about the situation as he was. They approached the table with caution.

"Have a seat." He told them calmly. They didn't argue. "It took you long enough to find me. I've been wanting to talk to you Dean."

"What can I say? Mixed feelings about that. So is this the part where you kill me?"

Death looked at him with an expression with no explanation other than boredom. "You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well, think of how you'd feel if a bacteria sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one tiny planet, in one tiny solar system, in a galaxy that's barely out of it's diapers. I'm old, Dean, very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you." He gave them each a slice of pizza. "And don't think because of your…bloodline…son of Lucifer, that you weigh any more notice."

"Yes sir." He took a bite out of the pizza, not so much to appease the horseman, but to assess if anything had been done to it before Dean ate it. "This is good pizza dude, try it."

Dean looked at him and sensed that it was safe, so he bit off a piece. It was pretty good. "So I gotta ask. How old are you?"

"As old as God. Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken and egg, regardless, in the end I reap him too."

"God? You'll reap God?"

"Oh yes, God will die too."

He straightened up. "This is way above my pay grade."

"Just a bit."

"So why am I still breathing? Sitting here with you, what do you want?"

"The leash around my neck, off. Lucifer has me bound to him, in some unseemly little spell. He has me where he wants, when he wants. That's why I couldn't go to you. I had to wait for you to catch up. He made me his weapon. Hurricanes, floods, raising the dead, I'm more powerful than you can fathom and I'm enslaved to a bratty child having a tantrum."

"_Thank_ you." Dominic pointed out. He wasn't the only one with such feelings of adoration towards Lucifer.

"And you think…_I_ can unbind you?"

"This ridiculous bravado again, of course you can't. But you can help me take the bullets out of Lucifer's gun." He leaned forward and showed him the ring on his finger. "I understand you want this."

"Yeah?"

"I'm inclined to give it to you."

"To give it to me."

"That's what I said."

"But what about…Chicago?"

He sighed. "I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza." He took the ring off his finger. "There are conditions."

"Okay, like?"

"You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell."

"Of course."

"No, whatever it takes."

"That's the plan."

"No plan, not yet. Your brother, he's the one that can stop Lucifer, the only one."

"Wait, you think…"

"I know. So I need a promise. You're going to let your brother jump right into that fiery pit." He extended the ring to him. "Well, do I have your word?"

Dean swallowed. "Okay yeah, yes." He held his hand out.

"That better be yes Dean, you know you can't cheat Death." He placed the ring in his palm. "Now. Would you like the instruction manual?"

"There's an instruction manual?"

"There is a specific set of steps to make the rings open the box. You probably want to write this down."


End file.
